Restaurant Week Singapore 2012

A week long gastronomic affair with over 100 participating restaurants offering lunch and dinner at $25*+++ and $35*+++ respectively for this week only.

Organised by diningcity.com, they have an online booking system where reservations, changes and cancellations are to be done solely online.

For every booking made, there'll be a reservation code generated and sent to your email inbox.

A few days prior to your reservation, an email reminder would be automatically sent.

Cancellations made within 24 hours may be liable for a cancellation charge imposed by the restaurant.

That's only fair since they would be preparing ingredients for the special restaurant week menu offered during this period.

Dummy's guide to the online system unnecessary. :)

Nestled behind Jumbo with ample parking space.

Hello Roadhouse.

Their normal daily menu at the restaurant side with indoor seating.

White washed walls,

minimalist but their cosy lighting and cushioned seats along the side of the wall gives a sense of indiscriminate comfort.

Just across from them you'd find Hacienda, their bar and bistro side with chill out style alfresco seating.

That's also where the washrooms are located.

Special menu for the $35+++ dinner for restaurant week.

It was easy.

Two of us and two choices of each.

We'll have everything on the menu please.

This was the first dish to arrive and look at that beauty. :)

Bacon rind is a perfectly edible ziplock for juices.

My case in point.

The juicy chicken encased within crisp bacon rind.

The bit of green jalepenos did wonders to open up an appetite and reduce the effects of sticky sweet honey glaze.

Prawn tostadas.

This was a mouthful of flavours.

The sweetness and light heat of the mango salsa, creamy guacamole and diced prawn with crunch with a melted topping of strong gorgonzola cheese

on a lightly toasted soft tortilla triangle.

Once you pop, you can't stop.

Seated by the windows,

you watch as the darkness of night slowly creeps up on you.

A perfect night out for a slow dinner to be enjoyed.

Why people would chop up wagyu to be used in a patty I fail to comprehend.

170g was the size of a toddler's fist.

For what it lacked in width, it made up in height.

The green apple slices were smothered to death by cinnamon powder, it left a terribly bitter aftertaste that marred the entire eating experience.

The caramelized onions were a caramel color but it did not have the sweet charred taste I was expecting.

Now the thing that me about these tiny gourmet burgers is that they are too tall and too small to be taken in both hands in eaten heartily.

So I was of course, resigned to using the utensils and attempting to deconstruct and eat it with pairings of whichever portions dependent on what can be speared together.

But those fries were a treat.

Tossed in truffle oil?

Crispy on the outside, fluffy on the inside.

For a moment I forgot about my first love for soggy fries. :)

Mayonnaise and chilli in squeeze bottles.

Yum!

The use of an artificial light from a Galaxy SII with an unccoperative light crew.

He was suitably embarrassed holding onto the flash light in the cosy restaurant only indulging me in my pictorials because he wouldn't be able to touch this plate otherwise.

Then I realised perhaps my SIII's camera flash would suffice.

The mushrooms were full on with their earthy woody taste.

It overpowered the taste of the steak.

We asked for a medium but it was almost well done but we were too hungry to bother.

This was an ample grammage of meat for a hungry man.

Thick cut and full on juices.

It might have been the comparison with the wagyu beef patty but this was lacking in that beefy taste a carnivore would be looking for.

Sticky date pudding served warm and topped with a generous helping of walnuts covered in butterscotch sauce and a side of vanilla ice cream.

I knew I love you before I sank my spoon into you already.

The vanilla ice cream evident with speckles of vanilla bean in the picture was a disappointment since it did not taste redolent of its essence.

valrhona caramelia chocolate mousse
when served together with the sticky date pudding,

this looked like a sad piece of cake.

and it was.

it didn't live up to its name.

While the chocolate sponge was good,

that which was called a mousse...

tasted like salted caramel which would not be bad thing save for the oily aftertaste left lingering in your mouth.

More misses than hits.

But the service was good. Attentive waitstaff made sure the plates were cleared and water continuously refilled without being intrusive.

Still a good venue for dinner.

But perhaps let's just stick with the regular menu options.

This was a first time participation for Roadhouse in Restaurant Week so I hope they'll work on the menu hey.

margaritas and ps cafe @ dempsey

nachos the mandatory appetizer.

carne asadas.

that's some pretty awesome beef.

take your pick of dips.

or have them all.

black beans, guacamole, sour cream, refreshing veggie salsa and tomato salsa.

wrap your own tortillas.

These generously juicy chicken chunks on a bed of caramelized onions.

salsa, sour cream, guacamole spreaded.

topped with caramelized onions and mozza cheese.

hello chicken before you're all wrapped up.

Fajitas.

desserts

at P.S cafe.

a terrible glass of hot chocolate.

sticky date pudding topped with vanilla ice cream

served in a moat of caramel.

dark chocolate banana cheesecake.

decadence.

oh yum.

Just because auntie made hakka styled yam abacus

with chicken strips

and included some of her personal stash of homegrown chilli padi.

am loved. :)

delicious @ scotts square

With seven outlets in KL and Penang enjoying homegrown success,

this flagship outlet at Scotts Square in Singapore is the Eastern & Oriental Berhad Group's

first foray of its Delicious cafe into our shores.

The glass enclosed cafe with their robin's blue egg colored namesake sports a brick front facade.

It offers a contemporary dining atmosphere in a soothing turquoise and white themed interior with added quirks like birdcages and stylised trees. Very much like how their cafes are styled in Malaysia.

The menu has an East West fusion that give diners a wide range of choices at affordable prices. We are talking about deep dish pizzas to pastas and local delights like their famous Nasi Kerabu.

A hearty offering of grilled chicken covered with red curry, this savoury dish will leave you wanting more. :) And unfortunately, seems as if it's the -only- reason for a return visit, if ever.

This seriously delicious cheeseburger was seriously generous but definitely not as delicious as its namesake. It looked like an awesome choice. With fresh greens, a thick patty covered with melted cheese slice, side salad and fries. However, the beef patty was dry and tasted more of panko than actual minced beef which would account for its lack of juicy bite. The onion relish was well done but too little for my liking. The house dressing would have been better off served at the side. The shoestring fries were a good accompaniment for munchers, especially when the patty would probably be left unfinished. Hmm.

Now I havent had a terrible carrot cake yet. But this just about takes the cake (pun totally intended).

The cream cheese icing was heavy on butter which has a very oily aftertaste.

The cake was crumbly and way too dry.

This was a disappointment and not my sweet ending.

This sticky date pudding was served warm, separate from the vanilla ice cream and the thick, dense caramel sauce. The ice cream was in first sight, definitely one off the supermarket shelves and leaves me little to speak off. The sticky date pudding was served warm in a ramekin. There were no pieces of dates but probably minced and mixed into the batter. I'd much prefer pieces of dates for that extra bite. The caramel sauce was thick, a little too much for our palates. This was sticky indeed and overly sweet.

The atmosphere was brilliant. Quiet with ample seating in a relaxed atmosphere. But if the standards of their food and cake offerings continue as such, it'll only remain a novelty and will no see repeats in customer visits. At least not for me. Perhaps only for the nasi kerabu though. :) I do hope to see the delicious cafe see through their aim of another two new outlets in Singapore living up to the delicious standards of their namesake.

what's to be had at 313?

Too cute it made me smile :) Sitting in the al fresco area was a choice I didn't have to give a second thought about. :)

 

I was torn between wanting to see pretty latte art and a cold drink. Cold won me over on an unusually sunny day. :) Vanilla latte it was. Good amount of coffee amidst all that milk. It wasn't 70% milk on a usual latte. Definitely less but it was aromatic and smooth on taste. :)

For starters.

Bangers and mash. The bangers were tasty. Very tasty. The creamy mash was fluffy and light on flavour. The onion gravy added the needed saltiness to the mash. We cleaned up the plate. 

Beer battered fish and chips. A generous 4-piece fish portion with a handful of thick potato wedges. Served piping hot it was tasteful on its own but made better with tartar sauce. Personal preference :)

Sticky date pudding with a lovely dollop of old fashioned vanilla melting prettily into the warm pudding.

The handful of plump raisins in the caramel sauce were bursting with rum. What a surprise :) 

Chocolate. There were more adjectives accompanying this on the menu but let's state the obvious because the obvious was really thick and rich.

Oh if you loved chocolate.

You also need a tissue paper on hand because it's gonna be lip smackingly chocolate-y. I was with a girlfriend. We could get as messy as we wanted. Okay, maybe just me because she was prettily made up and took care to dab at her mouth after every spoonful. I just relied on my trusty tongue. :p

Thanks for the treat and for the souvenir from your trip!

What a tongue twister.

I'll be glad to use it for hmm. red packets? :) A big fish and a tiny fish pouch for coins.

I need to get me to Vietnam one of these days.

So Oriole. For coffee art the next time round.

The barista washes his coffee machine at 8pm sharp daily so get your coffee fix before then!